For some reason, my social accounts are always pushing me articles all about money. Whether it’s the next big app that’s going to help me save X amount in 6 months, or the classic ‘Millennial buy too many avocado’s to buy housing’ article I’ve probably seen it while on my daily scroll. There’s always those hints and tips posts which only really work if you already have X amount in your account. So instead of a dumb-ass post that’s probably written by someone who could afford a home at 21, I wanted to look more into how you can condition your mind set to spend less even on essentials. (And by essentials I do mean daily coffee runs because I’m a typical millennial who needs a caffeine fix just to be a nice person.) Plus hopefully have some left over for a nice treat.
Be Creative when Buying
I don’t know about you but I’m completely conditioned to buy a seasonal wardrobe twice a year from high street stores. Of course this is what contributes to my current accounts hatred and disappointment towards me. Instead of buying 7 tops that are basically exactly the same but in different colours or slightly different materials, pick out more ‘classic’ pieces in a good quality material that will last you longer than the next 6 months.
Spend some time browsing sale racks in the off-season and there’s usually good finds in local charity shops. Pretty much anything can be bought second hand, and this automatically cheapens the price and rarely changes the quality. For example, I’m pretty much only buying second hand books… and I have never been disappointed with how my book looks because they’ve always looked nearly new.
When food shopping look around! If you have a local market it might be cheaper to buy your fruit and veg there. If you go around the right time of the day you can hit the store when things go on reduced. Be flexible with meal plans so that if green beans are on sale instead of baby sweetcorn, you don’t mind because you’re saving a little extra cash.
When you do have to spend, try to find coupons, money off and use cashback sites or a credit card (if you can trust yourself with one!). Honestly, buying online is soo much cheaper sometimes, so if you’re window shopping have a quick google to see if you can find the same item or something similar elsewhere.
Keep an Eye on your Bank Balance
One of the things I’ve noticed many of my friends doing, is just not looking at their bank balance and statements. They then look at it at the end of a long month of spending (especially after student loans come in) and realise they’ve barely got anything left.
I usually make up a budget for the next year in September to figure out how much money I will have per week to spend. This meant that I could plan ahead if I needed to spend more than my £X weekly limit. Also, note the keyword as ‘need’.
Do you have time for a side hustle?
Side hustles are a good thing, no matter what others may say. If you wanna spend time on your art and sell it – do it! Amateur photographer? Start seeing if you can charge for photoshoots and build up that portfolio. I’m even seeing more and more student bloggers who subsidise their studies with affiliate links and sponsored posts!
Side hustles don’t have to be in a creative industry either, you can be a tutor, or there’s dog walking and dog sitting websites which pay you to spend time with dogs! There’s so many opportunities out there at the moment!
Make sure you have the time to put into your side hustle though! If you’re going to burn yourself out, it won’t matter how much money you may make you won’t feel as happy if you’re making yourself ill.
Save, Save, Save
I know what you’re gonna say. ‘But Becky you said you weren’t writing a dumb-ass post about saving money I don’t have’. But here’s where changing your mind set towards money comes in. You do not need to save X amount per week, month or year. What you should start doing is saving a little bit as often as you can. When I was growing up, my mum had a massive glass jar that she would put any spare change in at the end of the week. And a couple of years ago when she finally emptied it she had about £500 which she then put towards her next holiday.
You can also do this quite simply when shopping with debit cards, especially with mobile banking being so easy! What I’ve started to do is to always aim for no decimals in my current account. So every time I purchase things that are .99 of a pound, I slip that penny into my savings to make it a whole number.
Another mindset is that people want to save for a big holiday, or a car or a house etc. These are the big things in life that you need to save for of course, but you should also try saving for the smaller things too. Save for the £60 pair of boots instead of splurging your money on them, save for a nice meal out with your friends etc. If you’re saving for the little things, it means you get to ‘treat yourself’ more often which acts as a motivator, without you feeling guilty that you should be saving for something else.
Ignore Millennial Assumptions
I know I started this post talking about being a millennial but a lot of the articles are full of crap. They’re often written by baby boomers who put us into this situation with rising house prices, increased student loans and stagnant wages. We are not lazy or entitled just because they tell us we are. The reason why we’re unable to purchase property is not because of avocados, coffee and sandwiches. And most people I know work their asses off with little pay back because that’s what we have to do to survive.
There’s always going to be that negative sentiment, which makes you feel pretty shitty and a lot of people end up falling into that stereotype because it’s been put into their head. But if you take the time to really think about your money it won’t be as bad. And we as a group of people are pretty great don’t you think?